Interview with Thurso band Forgetting The Future's frontman Robbie McNicol and new drummer Sam Cowan, looking forward from Belladrum to the band's plans for the rest of the year.
More on the band:
https://forgettingthefuture.co.uk/
In Time Records.
More on the band:
https://forgettingthefuture.co.uk/
In Time Records.
Category
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MusicTranscript
00:00 [Music]
00:13 So the Isle of Wight was absolutely surreal.
00:19 One of our most favourite gigs ever. It was absolutely crazy.
00:22 It was absolutely scorching. It was like 31 degrees.
00:26 We were absolutely sunburned with our Scottish skin, which was brilliant.
00:30 Not used to it up here in the north.
00:33 I applied to play at the Isle of Wight through a team called Amplead,
00:38 who I found online.
00:41 And they emailed me back maybe I think a week or two later,
00:47 "We'd like you to play Isle of Wight." And I was like, "What?"
00:50 So, pretty mind-blowing. And I was phoning the boys up like one in the morning.
00:54 It's like, "Answer the phone!" You know, because it was buzzing.
00:59 And then I had a call with Gavin, who is one of the guys that run Amplead,
01:05 who's a really great guy. And he was like, "We're just going to get you a helicopter in."
01:10 And I was like, "Yeah, that sounds, yeah, no problem."
01:14 So, treated like celebrities there.
01:18 I think only the headliners actually get a helicoptered into the festival.
01:23 So, that was really cool.
01:25 I think it went really well, because we spent a lot of time leading up to the gig.
01:36 We were handing out cards and speaking to people,
01:39 trying to get as many people to come see us as possible.
01:44 I think it went really well.
01:46 Excellent.
01:47 We put on the same show that we always do, the high energy.
01:52 And I think it really went down really well.
01:56 Yeah, no, just like Sam says, it was really cool to play to a tent full of people
02:03 800 miles away from home. It was absolutely pretty surreal.
02:06 Especially in one of the biggest festivals in the UK. So, that was insane.
02:10 For us, live, we love recording in the studio and all that kind of stuff.
02:16 But live is kind of our niche.
02:18 When we hit the stage and tour in festivals and that, it's just kind of like a different beast.
02:24 You can really just kind of let go.
02:27 Personally, I watch bands live all the time and it's all about energy for me.
02:33 If energy is there, then it's just like hooked.
02:37 So, you just love creating that energy live and having a good old sweat.
02:44 If you're not sweating, you're not doing it right.
02:46 [Music]
02:54 So, I played in Rhythm and Real and a few other bands.
02:58 I've been playing since I was about 12 years old.
03:01 So, I've been doing it long enough.
03:04 And then I met Robbie and the rest of the boys when my other band, The Clampdown,
03:08 we supported Forgetting the Future at MAP Art.
03:12 And since then, we just kept in touch.
03:14 And I did some wee photos things for the band and stuff up in Thurso.
03:20 We became mates and started talking and stuff like that.
03:23 So, then when Rob contacted me just to see the opportunity to come out,
03:28 I was happy to join them.
03:33 I thought I could definitely bring my flavor to the band.
03:38 I think so far it's definitely worked. I don't know what Robbie's take on that is.
03:43 You've got a very spicy flavor.
03:45 [Laughter]
03:48 [Music]
03:58 Yeah, definitely.
04:01 It's difficult.
04:03 You meet lots of great musicians along the way and things like that.
04:07 It's the hardest part is finding people that have the passion and the drive
04:11 and the work rate to get to that next step.
04:15 Because you could be the best band in the world or the best players in the world
04:19 or whatever, but if you don't have the work, the work rate and the desire to take it further,
04:25 then it's not worth it at all.
04:27 But I've definitely lucked out with the boys anyway in that regard.
04:32 Yes.
04:33 Yeah, so the plan is, obviously we're still very much Highland boys.
04:38 Yes.
04:40 And we love our home up here, you know, like Thurzo and Invergarden, Inverness.
04:45 It's absolutely amazing.
04:47 So, we're always going to be partly based up here.
04:51 Yes.
04:52 But the plan is to kind of go down to Glasgow for a bit and just jump into the pond.
05:00 You know what I mean?
05:03 Because at the moment, this year we've started branching out to Brighton and Isle of Wight
05:11 and stuff like that.
05:12 And next year we might be playing in Europe and all that kind of stuff.
05:16 So, basing ourselves in the middle is going to be probably quite beneficial for us
05:21 so we can nip down to Brighton and Columbum and come back up.
05:25 Yes.
05:26 And then we're still going to be based partly in Thurzo and Invergarden as well.
05:30 So, it's basically just branching out, you know.
05:33 Yes.
05:34 We want to be a worldwide band.
05:38 So, you know, branching out I think is the next, the best step.
05:42 I think we're at the point now, you know, we're 22, 23 and we're really happy with our sound
05:50 and our kind of live gigs and stuff.
05:53 So, we want to jump into the world, you know, we want to really push it as far.
06:00 We feel like we're really ready, which is great.
06:03 So, that's the plan.
06:04 Well, definitely we'd like to put great ideas forward.
06:14 Yes.
06:15 And you know, if it works, it works.
06:17 If it doesn't, it doesn't.
06:18 But definitely, in terms of writing the parts or, you know, definitely putting ideas forward.
06:26 Yeah, I think that seems to be our fans' jobs now, just to catch me in the crowd.
06:44 That was really great.
06:46 It was a really, really fun set.
06:48 Obviously, it was a massive stage.
06:49 Probably at that point, it was the biggest stage that we've played so far.
06:52 So, that was really cool.
06:53 And we had a great, you know, crowd there, even though it was like three in the afternoon.
06:58 There was a bunch of people there, which was really great.
07:01 Really cool to see support and enough people to crowd surf on.
07:04 So, that's always a good sign.
07:06 They don't hit the floor.
07:08 So, yeah, that was really great.
07:11 So, we played in the Hothouse, which is the main stage this year.
07:14 That was really, really fun.
07:16 So, obviously, that was main stage at like three in the afternoon the first day.
07:21 And now, this year, we're playing a smaller stage, but a really great stage just next to it, called the Seedling Stage.
07:29 Oh, yeah.
07:30 At like half seven.
07:32 So, that's a really, really good jump up for us, you know, because it's going to be swandered, you know.
07:38 It's going to be a really great set time, you know, later on in the day and the last day of the festival, and everyone's there and raring to go, you know.
07:47 So, we've got some big surprises.
07:49 It's going to be really, really fun.
07:52 And we can't wait to see a tent full of people again and to play in Belgium.
07:58 Because Belgium is one of our favorite festivals as well.
08:00 And, you know, Sam, he's played it a bunch of times himself.
08:03 We played it, you know.
08:04 So, it's a great, great festival.
08:07 So, we're really, really excited for a big old forget-the-future set in the Seedling Stage.
08:12 Thanks to Off Axis for having us.
08:14 Definitely.
08:24 I mean, I've been to, I think, every single Belladrama apart from the first one.
08:29 Wow.
08:30 You must have been very young.
08:32 You must have been very young.
08:34 Yes. I think I was, like, a few months old or something like that.
08:39 Oh, my goodness.
08:40 It's been a festival that's obviously been part of, you know, like, the local culture really for the last, you know, almost 20 years.
08:53 And, yeah, so I've been lucky enough to, I think the first time I played it I was 13.
09:00 That was me and my dad.
09:02 We were on the Free Range Folk Stage, which is in the Walled Garden.
09:05 Yes.
09:06 That's a cracking stage.
09:08 And since then, I think I'll probably be coming up for maybe 10 or 12 shows now.
09:15 Gosh.
09:16 I've got five this year.
09:17 Yeah.
09:18 So, yeah, it's a Belladrama.
09:21 At the same festival?
09:22 Yeah.
09:23 At the same festival.
09:24 So, people can see you five times in different guises.
09:28 Yeah.
09:29 Mental.
09:31 But, no, I'm so lucky to have played it a lot of times.
09:35 Yeah.
09:36 But the Seedlings is one I've never actually played.
09:39 Oh, right.
09:40 So, it'll be a new challenge and a new excitement for me, which will be great.
09:44 After Belladrama, we've obviously got Belladrama as well, and we're so excited for that.
09:54 Yeah.
09:55 I mean, you know, Seedlings is crazy because you've had, like, Sam Fenders play it.
09:58 You know, I've seen Tawan Atlantic play it.
10:01 Yeah, yeah.
10:02 Really great stage.
10:03 So, that's going to be amazing.
10:05 And then, at the end of the year, maybe start of the year, we're going to obviously release
10:10 the SEP and tour, you know, the whole UK.
10:13 So, that's going to be really fun as well.
10:14 We're going to go everywhere.
10:16 [BLANK_AUDIO]